Should I break the contract and leave?
Might be a stupid post, but I really need some advice.
I’m currently working in a dermatology practice that seems to value monetary gain over patient care. In a 7-hour clinic day, I’m averaging 6–7 patients an hour, which ends up being around 40 patients a day. On top of that, they’ve cut staff support after integrating an AI scribe, so providers are expected to do even more with less help.
The environment has become really discouraging because provider opinions and concerns don’t feel respected. It honestly feels like we’re just pawns in their system rather than clinicians whose judgment matters.
Another major issue is that I essentially do not have a true supervising physician available to me. They hired someone out of state to “supervise” us, but I never have direct contact with this physician, and they’re not readily available because they’re in a completely different time zone. It doesn’t feel safe or supportive at all.
I recently interviewed for another dermatology position back in my hometown. The physician essentially promised me the job, and the practice seems much more supportive — there would actually be supervising physician support, more autonomy, and a much more reasonable patient load (around 20–25 patients a day instead of 40).
The issue is that the official job posting hasn’t opened yet, so they can’t provide me with a formal contract at this time. I do, however, have a meeting scheduled with the hiring team to discuss the contract process and credentialing.
My current employer requires a 60-day notice based on the contract I signed about a year ago, but the contract doesn’t mention any penalties for leaving early. I’m honestly miserable at this job and worried that if I wait too long, I could get burnt out even more.
My biggest concern is that if I give notice too early and something unexpectedly falls through with this new job, I could end up basically unemployed. Nothing so far has suggested that will happen, and everyone has been very reassuring, but realistically anything is possible until a contract is signed.
Would it be unreasonable to give a shorter notice period in this situation? Has anyone else navigated something similar?